Soccer: Turin derby moved to avoid Superga anniversary

MILAN (Reuters) - The date of next month’s Juventus-Torino derby has been changed to avoid the match being played on the 70th anniversary of the Superga air disaster.

The Serie A league had originally scheduled the match for May 4 but confirmed in a statement on Friday that it had been brought forward by one day.

Eighteen Torino players and officials were among 31 people killed in the accident on May 4, 1949, when their plane crashed into the Superga hill near the city in poor weather while trying to land.

The team, returning from a friendly match against Benfica in Lisbon, was the finest in the club’s history, winning the Serie A title five seasons in a row and forming the backbone of the Italian national side.

Torino president Urbano Cairo had argued that it was wrong to play the match on that date and it was in the interests of “those who love football to find the right answer”.